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TikTok Campaign: The Complete Guide to Boost Your ROI in 2024 [+Examples]

By Leah Clark Last updated: 33 minute read Marketing GuidesSocial Media Marketing

TikTok can potentially maximize brand awareness, revenue, and audience engagement. This social channel is rapidly expanding, and its future looks promising for businesses and marketers.

Of the 4.8 billion internet users, 21% use TikTok! And although this social channel has been around for a shorter time, it has more monthly active users than Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, Twitter, and Telegram.

But what do successful campaigns in TikTok look like?

Does this social platform work for every business?

And what audience demographics can you expect to find on TikTok?

Don’t worry! We’ve done in-depth research to develop this ultimate guide on how to set up campaigns and key demographics for this platform.

Plus, we have the top advertising tips and examples to inspire a results-driven campaign and accelerate your bottom line.

Ready to learn everything you need to know about TikTok campaigns?

Here we go!

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    TikTok Audience: Demographics

    32% of TikTok users are between 10 and 19 years old, 30% are between 20 and 29, and users 50+ are the lowest audience segment by age. Of all these users, a whopping 60% are Gen Z’ers! Females are most active at 57%, while only 43% of men use this. Overall, there are more than 700 million TikTok users and counting!

    And guess what?

    People love this app! The average user opens this social platform around 8 times daily and spends 1.5 hours on it. And 83% of these users have taken to this platform and posted content, while 35% of these users have also participated in at least one hashtag challenge.

    But that’s not all TikTok users enjoy; 64% love using face filters and effects. There’s clearly a lot of engagement on this platform, and Medikix confirms TikTok boasts an impressive average engagement rate of 29%.

    Source: Jordan Platten

    Are TikTok Promotions Right for Your Business?

    Marketing on TikTok can get your business in front of thousands of potential customers, as 55% of users rely on the platform to discover new brands and products. 

    But is TikTok right for your business? 

    Well, it depends on your target audience and marketing goals.

    TikTok is ideal for your business if you’re promoting content appealing to a younger, engaged audience. 

    However, marketing on TikTok may be challenging if you’re targeting older buyers in specific niches.

    Here are a few factors to consider when you evaluate if TikTok is best for  marketing your business:

    1.Target Audience.

    Your audience’s age group and interests determine if TikTok would boost your ROI and brand growth. TikTok campaign is a worthwhile social channel if your business targets buyers between 13 and 30. The percentage of US-based TikTok users proves that people in this age group are more likely to see your products and services.

    If your target is an older age bracket, for example, people aged 50+, reaching them on this social platform might be hard, as they make up only 7% of users and spend the least time on the app. This social app is also best for businesses that target young women, as they make up the majority of users (57% of TikTok users are female).

    tiktok advertising stats
    Source: Backlinko

    2.Advertising Cost

    Advertising can be expensive compared to other social media platforms. Ads on this social channel start at $10 CPM (Cost Per 1000 views). At a minimum, you must spend around $500 on ad campaign. This figure is undoubtedly super expensive, and it doesn’t get any better.

    For hashtag challenges, brands spend around $150,000 per week, and for 5-minute brand takeover ads, about $50,000 per day. Advertising campaigns demand a high upfront investment. This won’t work for many small to mid-level businesses.

    But how do you pay to secure TikTok ad placements?

    TikTok ad works on a bidding system known as the ad auction. You’ll compete against other brands in your niche to secure an ad spot and reach your target audience. There are 3 main ways you can pay for ads:

    1. Cost-per-view (CPV)
    2. Cost-per-click (CPC)
    3. Cost-per-mile (CPM)

    3.Business Type

    TikTok has a strict content policy restricting users from posting branded content that promotes several products. These products include:

    • Alcohol
    • Digital currencies
    • Gambling
    • Prescription medication
    • Invasive cosmetic procedures (applicable to Belgium and France)
    • Condoms (applicable to Belgium). 

    Check out this social app content policy before you plan your advertising campaign. If your business is in a restricted niche, do extensive research to find out how you can go about a TikTok campaign without breaking the rules. However, this might not be possible for some businesses, leaving them with no option but to skip the ads altogether. 

     

    tiktok advertising niches
    Source: Backlinko

    4.Business and Marketing Goals

    What are your business goals? Are they clearly defined? Do they align with TikTok promotion? What is your expected marketing campaign outcome? Is it short-term or long-term?

    These are questions to be asked before putting your marketing campaign on this social platform to determine if TikTok and your business are a good fit. TikTok isn’t a quick fix. You need to invest a lot of time, money, and resources into generating profit from this social channel. It’s also ideal to use this social app for marketing goals like brand awareness and loyalty compared to direct sales.

    Summary: Is TikTok Ads Right for Your Business?

    These are factors to evaluate to determine if TikTok advertising works for your business:

    1. Target Audience
    2. TikTok Advertising Cost
    3. Business Type
    4. Business and Marketing Goals,

    5 Benefits of TikTok Campaign

    Only you can know what’s right for your business, but if you’re considering TikTok marketing, here are 5 benefits!

    1.Beginner-friendly Marketing Campaigns

    Building, implementing, and running ad campaigns is daunting if you don’t have much experience. While enterprises may have the excess cash to invest in TikTok marketing agencies or in-house marketers, not all brands have this option. Fortunately, this social platform is super intuitive, and it’s really easy to develop engaging ads.

    The key to results-driven ads is organic content. Users want to relate to the content and creators they interact with. Because of this, you can keep your ads simple and personal without requiring high-level video production and promotion.

    2.Wide Range of Ad Formats

    There are many dynamic ad formats to play around with. These formats include brand takeovers, hashtag challenges, top-view ads, in-feed ads, collection ads, and branded effects. Below, we’ll dive into the details of all these advertising formats and how businesses use them!

    With so many impactful ad formats, it’s easy for businesses to develop innovative ad campaigns with the potential for virality. You can experiment with different TikTok ad formats to pinpoint which formats work best for your marketing goals.

    A hashtag challenge would be ideal for running a social media contest. But you could rely on in-feed ads for typical brand awareness campaigns.

    tiktok advertising forecast
    Source: MarketingCharts

    3. TikTok is Fantastic for Influencer Marketing

    There are over a hundred thousand influencers on this social platform. It won’t be challenging to find these influencers for conversion-driven campaigns that garner brand awareness and credibility. Influencers can put your brand in front of thousands of targeted buyers and amplify your reach. You can also use this marketing medium to reach smaller, more niche audience segments on TikTok.

    Popular TikTok influencers such as Charli D’Amelio, Bella Poarch, and Khaby Lame have forged successful partnerships with various businesses worldwide. These influencer partnerships are super valuable for brands, as influencers have an average engagement rate of 17.96%, significantly higher than on YouTube and Instagram. 

    These are the top influencers on TikTok to consider for your ad campaign:

    1. Charli D’Amelio (over 140 million followers)
    2. Khaby Lame (over 136 million followers)
    3. Bella Poarch (over 89 million followers)
    4. Addison Rae (over 87 million followers)
    5. Zach King (over 68 million followers)

    4.Content-Driven Marketing for Virality

    TikTok campaign boils down to buyer-centric, organic content that aligns with relevant trends on the platform. Because you’re not just relying on a static image but a dynamic video and catchy sound, it’s much easier to grab users’ attention and engage them. Users prefer ads that can entertain while subtly nudging them toward the product. 

    This is a significant benefit for businesses as they know what to focus their advertising efforts on – trendy content! This social platform users understand how impactful advertising content is, as 70% believe the biggest trends start on TikTok and that TikTok content can inspire cultural change.

    So, how do you create super engaging content for TikTok that has a good chance of going viral?

    It’s far from easy, but here are the top tips to create and promote content that connects with your target audience and becomes the next trend:

    • Keep your content simple and relevant: Content with a chance of going viral is always simple and relevant to the target audience. Users should understand the purpose of your content from the get-go and how this relates to what’s going on in the platform and your target market. 
    • Stay ahead of trends: Keeping in tune with trends is a fantastic way to find inspiration for viral content. You can use hashtag research, evaluate the content popping up on your feed, and use tools like Sprout Social to discover the top trends and use this for your content. 
    • Speak directly to your audience: Get personal with your audience and speak directly to their pain points. Forget the first and third-person voices, and focus on talking to your target users like they’re good ol’ friends! 
    • Leverage TikTok audio: Audio plays a significant role in why users watch specific videos on this social app. Around 73% of users will stop and watch a video because of its audio. Also, unique audio makes 50% of these users more likely to remember a video. 
    • Be authentic to your brand identity: TikTok audiences don’t want to interact with faceless brands. This is a huge reason why influencers on this social platform gained so much popularity. Users want to engage with accounts that connect with them. Be authentic to your brand identity and shape your TikTok campaign to capture and promote your brand voice and values.

    5.Impressive User Engagement

    Another significant benefit of the campaign is how hooked users are on this platform. Audiences love this social channel and spend a lot of time on it! TikTok has over 1.5 billion monthly active users, and 8 new users join this platform every second.

    After joining this social platform, users are pretty close to becoming addicted as they spend more than 20 hours per month.  Users spend around 10 minutes per session, which is super high compared to other social channels. For context, Pinterest has the second-highest minutes per session, but this is only half of TikTok’s at about 5 minutes.

     All this engagement on TikTok results in one massive outcome – users spend loads of cash on TikTok. All in all, TikTok audiences spend more than $2.3 billion every year on this app!

    But how do you leverage these super impressive TikTok engagement statistics and get on this action?

    Here are the top tips for maximizing engagement on TikTok:

    • Create a content posting schedule and maintain consistency
    • Use TikTok trends to inspire the content you promote
    • Engage with users through likes and comments
    • Engage with other brands and TikTok creators
    • Use hashtags to ensure your content gets the maximum reach
    • Encourage your audience to participate and create user-generated content
    tiktok advertising user engagement
    Source: Backlinko

    Summary: 5 TikTok Advertising Benefits

    1. Beginner-friendly Marketing Campaigns
    2. Wide Range of Ad Formats
    3. TikTok is Fantastic for Influencer Marketing
    4. Content-Driven Marketing for Virality
    5. Impressive User Engagement

    TikTok vs. Facebook  vs. Instagram Ads

    Here’s a comparison of TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram ads:

    TikTok Advertising - Comparison table of TikTok vs Facebook vs Instagram ads

    6 Types of TikTok Campaigns

    These are the top 6 types of TikTok campaigns and how to use them for your business:

    1.Brand Takeover Ads

    We’ll speak about this TikTok first because I bet you’ve seen it loads of times before! Brand Takeover ads are full-screen static or dynamic ads that play for about 3 to 5 seconds as users open the TikTok app for the first time that day. They are similar to non-skippable YouTube ads, and show when a user opens TikTok. Users cannot like or comment (aside from clicking your CTA). 

    Brand takeover ads on TikTok work because they focus strongly on visual engagement. Remember, users can’t skip these ads either. However, brands can include a CTA link to their landing page or website to drive traffic from TikTok.

     

    tiktok brand takeover ads
    Source: Satuvision

    But how do businesses secure brand takeover ads?

    It’s a tricky process. Every day, businesses have to outcompete their competitors through ad bidding. Only one brand in each niche lands a brand takeover ad every day. So, if you didn’t get lucky today, you can try again tomorrow. However, because of how exclusive this TikTok ad format is, generally only large businesses/budgets can afford to bid for brand takeover ads. 

    2.Top-view Ads

    Top-view ads appear at the top of the “For You” page on TikTok, and businesses can use a full-screen video for up to 60 seconds to feature their products.

    These ads are highly impactful because your ad is prominently featured in an unmissable spot.

    This TikTok ad format is similar to brand takeover ads but with a twist. Top-view ads aren’t as invasive as brand takeover ads, and they only play in users’ feeds after they’ve opened TikTok for three seconds.

     

    tiktok topview ads

    We deem top-view ads TikTok’s most valuable real estate advertising space because they drive insane brand awareness. Think about it – most ads on TikTok are short, so there’s a lot you can do with a full 60 seconds. Plus, they’re in a position where users can’t miss these ads, and the auto-play feature doesn’t give users a choice before the ads can hook them.

    3.Branded Hashtag Challenge

    Branded hashtag challenges are a fantastic way to promote user-generated content and connect with your audience’s creative side. How these TikTok ad formats work is simple – users create and post content with your branded hashtag, and the best content wins! You can have your target audio do silly acts like funny dances, harmless pranks, or group activities that spark inspiration.

    Many brands like Walmart and KIA have used branded hashtag challenges in advertising campaigns, sales, and social movements. To make your branded hashtag challenge work, ensure it’s easy for users to understand and participate. You should also offer a worthwhile incentive!

    Hashtag challenges
    Source: BusinessofApps

    4.Branded Effects

    Imagine if your target audience could create and promote content with customized effects from your brand. Well, TikTok makes this possible! You can create custom effects, filters, and stickers with your brand colors and logo so users can use these elements for their content. This means they’ll have your branding on their posts!

    This is an excellent way to gain user-generated content, and you’re also developing brand loyalty and awareness.

    You can use branded effects in 2 ways:

    1. You can create a standalone campaign with branded effects and encourage your target audience to create and post content with your tailored stickers, effects, and filters
    2. You can use branded effects with your branded hashtag challenge to boost its performance.

    Here’s a great example of branded effects ads by Colgate:

    colgate tiktok advertising
    Source: APIWAY

    5.Collection Ads

    Collection ads allow users to browse through your products without leaving the app. Users don’t have to leave TikTok to visit your website. Instead, they are led to an Instant Gallery Page, where they can view your products easily. Collection ads work because you can create a user-centric experience on TikTok, enabling your target audience to explore your products without getting them to click on a CTA (which isn’t guaranteed).

    You don’t have to choose to use either TikTok ad formats or collections. Brands should use collection ads alongside other ad campaigns. Again, this is a safety net if users don’t get to your website. You can use all the top features of ads – full-screen experience, trendy audio, and a dynamic video while keeping your target buyers on the platform.

    Source: TikTok for Business

    6.In-feed Video Ads

    In-feed TikTok video ads are the most common ad formats. These videos appear in a target user’s feed to engage them. These embedded videos auto-play in a user’s “For You” feed, and you can use a video up to 60 seconds long. Yet, 15 seconds is the sweet spot for in-feed video ads.

    in-feed ads tiktok
    Source: Hootsuite

    Compared to the other TikTok ad formats we’ve explored, what works about in-feed video ads is how native these ads are. They appear like typical content on TikTok so users don’t feel they’re bombarded with marketing material. You can use this TikTok ad format for many more purposes than some of the other ad types. In-feed video ads work for direct sales, brand awareness, and customer engagement.

    Summary: 6 Types of TikTok Ads

    1. Brand Takeover Ads
    2. Top-view Ads
    3. Branded Hashtag Challenge
    4. Branded Effects
    5. Collection Ads
    6. In-feed Video Ads

    Ad Campaign Setup Guide in 7 Steps.

    Here are 7 steps to build, manage, and grow your TikTok campaign:

    1.Create a TikTok Account.

    If you don’t already have one, the first step is to create a TikTok account. It’s ideal for a business to create an account on the TikTok Business Manager page.

    tiktok advertising
    Source: TikTok

    Fill in the required information – your email and password and click “Sign Up.” You’ll receive an email informing you that your account has been approved. If you don’t get immediate approval, a customer service representative will contact you and let you know if your business qualifies for the service.

    You also need to clearly define your objectives, and TikTok will ask what you want to achieve with your ad campaign.

    The campaign objectives you can pick from include:

    • Encourage people to download an app
    • Collect leads with pre-populated form
    • Show your ad to most people
    • Get users to buy or subscribe to a product or service
    • Send people to a particular URL

    2.Add a Pixel

    Adding a pixel helps collect valuable information about the TikTok users who are directed to your website. A pixel is a code added to your website that gives you information about your TikTok users’ locations, how they arrived on your site, and the devices they use.

    You can acquire this code by setting up a Web Event in the Ad Manager interface.

    Tiktok advertising pixel
    Source: Zendesk

    Review the cookie settings to ensure you’re collecting accurate data.

    create a pixel for tiktok
    Source: Zendesk

    Paste the resulting code into your website header to get it working perfectly. Make sure the pixel is installed correctly (the TikTok Pixel Helper plugin will make this easy).

    3.Set Up a Campaign

    You can set up a campaign by clicking the “Create” button on the Ads dashboard.

    create a campaign for tiktok advertising
    Source: SocialMediaExaminer

    You can choose between creating your campaign in simplified or custom mode. We suggest opting for custom mode so you can tailor your campaign to your TikTok advertising audience and goals.

    simplified vs custom tiktok advertising campaign
    Source: SocialMediaExaminer

    Give your campaign a name that suits your goals and objectives, and consider your marketing strategy (e.g., gaining app downloads, channel follows, new affiliates, or recruiting influencers).

    Remember, your campaign strategy could make or break your TikTok marketing, so set up one that suits your marketing goals and objectives.

    Because of this, it’s best to strategize specific goals you want your campaign to achieve before creating it, as the goals will inform the methods you use, and how you measure your progress and results.

    There’s much more to creating ad campaigns on TikTok, so let’s continue!

    4. Set a Budget

    Your budget is the core of your campaign because it defines the extent of your reach and performance. The budget you set for your ad campaign determines what ad formats you’ll use, how you plan to work with influencers and your overall strategy. The higher your budget, the more flexibility you have, but this isn’t realistic for many businesses.

    TikTok allows you to set a budget for the entire campaign or a daily budget (whatever works for you). There is a ‘No Limit’ campaign budget option, which is generally inadvisable for most businesses. Remember, TikTok, like you, is a business so avoid this option unless you intend to make TikTok SUPER rich!

    tiktok ad budget setting
    Source: SproutSocial

    5.Create an Ad Group

    TikTok offers you three levels of ads: an overall campaign, ad groups within the campaign, and individual ads within the ad groups.

    Ad groups allow you to refine your targeting and segment your audience. You can set different audience segments for different ad groups, allowing you to deliver personalized marketing messaging.

    These are the top factors to consider when creating your ad group:

    • The goal of your ad group – for example, get female users between 18 and 24 to create user-generated content
    • Ad placement – where would your ads appear and your desired format
    • Target market – The gender, age, region, and occupation of the specific audience segment your ad group is targeting
    • Delivery type – This defines how your budget is spent across your ad group. Standard delivery is when your budget is spent evenly across your marketing efforts. Accelerated delivery describes spending your budget to get maximum results in a short time.

    Source: TikTok For Business

    6.Create Your Ads

    After creating an ad group, you can finally create the ad itself! This is where the fun part begins. You can create impactful ads in various ways, depending on your preferred advertising format. You’ll start on the creative aspects of your ad before bidding!

    create a tiktok ad
    Source: InfluencerMarketingHub

    Most ads require you to manually bid on an ad slot to reach your audience (auction ads). You can pay on a cost-per-view, cost-per-click, or cost-per-mile basis.

    As previously mentioned, you can also customize your ads based on your target audience’s location, gender, age, or occupation.

    Depending on whether you have a high-level ad campaign, you might require a TikTok account manager to help with the specifics. TikTok provides these account managers and chooses which ad campaigns need one.

    Creating a TikTok ad might not be too tricky or time consuming depending on the ads you want to create. TikTok is all about promoting organic content that connects with your target audience, so keep your ads simple and authentic.

    7.Monitor and Track Your Ads

    Once you’ve gone through all these steps to create and promote ads, you can’t just turn your back and focus on the next project. Businesses must consistently monitor and track their ads to determine their performance. If your campaign lacks, you’ll have the required data to make swift changes and direct it toward success. You’ll also have benchmarks to use for your next ad campaign.

    tiktok built-in analytics
    Source: TikTok for Business

    Here are some of the key metrics to track for TikTok campaigns:

    • Clicks: How many clicks are on your ads?
    • Click-Through Rate (CTR): How many users clicked on your ad’s CTA?
    • Cost-Per-Click (CPC): How much you spend on each click vs. earn.
    • Cost-Per-Mile (CPM): How much you pay for every 1000 views 
    • Frequency: The average times users saw your ad.
    • Reach: The total number of unique users who saw your ad at least once.
    • Impressions: The total number of times your ads appeared on screen.
    • Total Cost: The total amount of money you invested in your ad campaign or groups.

    So, how do businesses gain all this data?

    TikTok has built-in tracking and analytics so you can seamlessly access and leverage these insights!

    Summary: TikTok Ads Campaign Setup Guide in 7 Steps

    1. Create a TikTok Account
    2. Add a Pixel
    3. Set Up a Campaign
    4. Set a Budget
    5. Create an Ad Group
    6. Create your ad
    7. Monitor and Track Your Ads

    12 Best Practices for Tiktok Campaigns

    Now that you know how to create TikTok campaigns, let’s explore the best practices for marketing on TikTok:

    1.Ads Policy

    Before creating ads on TikTok, learn about its ad policies to avoid unforeseen sanctions or even an account ban. Marketers and advertisers must also comply with the rules and regulations applicable to their targeted audience and region.

    For example, TikTok’s policy on illegal activities and drugs states that ad creatives & landing pages must not promote or display any content relating to these topics. However, this varies by region and in the US from state to state, with some offering more flexibility than others. This is just one example of the plethora of regulations for the kinds of ads you can promote on TikTok.

    2.Ad Formats

    TikTok offers a variety of ad formats for businesses depending on your preference and ad campaign goals. This gives you a chance to pick the format that is best suited to your business and your style. So, before creating your ad, take out time to pick out the ad format that suits your business type, goals, budget and marketing campaign the best.

    Here are all the available TikTok ad formats:

    • In-feed Video Ads: A full-screen video ad that runs between 5 to 60 seconds. These ads appear in the user’s ‘For You’ feed.
    • Top-view Ads: A full-screen video ad that runs between 5 to 60 seconds. Top-view ads appear at the top of the ‘For You’ feed. There is no other competing content to draw attention away from these ads. 
    • Brand Takeover: A full-screen ad that runs between 3 and 5 seconds. These ads appear when targeted users open their apps for the first time. 
    • Spark Ads: These are native ad formats that allow businesses to create ad’s from organic content users post on TikTok. 
    • Branded Hashtag Challenges: These ads appear as a banner on the ‘Discover page’. They also appear as in-feed video ads. Branded hashtag challenges are found in a hub that houses the participators’ videos and the hashtag challenge. 
    • Branded Effects: These are shareable branded stickers, filters, and effects. Users can add branded effects to the content they post and to their branded hashtag challenge videos. 

    Also, TikTok requests all brands ensure their advertised products and landing pages relate to each other, to prevent confusion. Not only that, the language must be the same language that the ad’s target audience uses for TikTok. Fortunately, a variety of languages are available on TikTok, so localizing your content won’t be challenging.

    3.Specs and Guidelines

    While planning your campaign, it’s ideal to look into TikTok ad specs and guidelines to avoid a crisis or wasted budget.

    When planning your short-form video, keep in mind that:

    • The recommended aspect ratio for all TikTok videos is 9:16.
    • Resolution options include 720px x 1280px, 640px x 640px, and 1280px x 720px.
    • Videos can be anywhere between 5 and 60 seconds long, but videos with a duration of 9 to 15 seconds perform best.
    • Your brand name should be between 2 to 20 characters long. App names should be about 4 to 40 characters.
    • Include a product description or service explanation with in-feed ads and top-view ads. Descriptions should be between 12 to 100 characters long.
    tiktok advertising revenue
    Source: Oberlo

    4.Influencers

    In almost every social media marketing campaign, influencer marketing plays a crucial role because they are the key to reaching thousands of users. However, be strategic in how you find, choose and manage your influencers. Unfortunately, like on all social media platforms, there are many fake influencers lurking on TikTok that look very legitimate at a glance. Do some research and make sure they’re genuine before you work with them (influencer platforms and agencies can be very useful for this).

    However, this doesn’t mean you have to shoot for a super well-known influencer with millions of followers. Micro influencers may work better for your campaign. The point is to take time evaluating your ideal influencer’s credibility and audience. They should also have some experience working with brands like yours.

    5.Creative Ads Center

    TikTok Creative Ads Center is a tool where marketers can find their next great idea for their content! Yup, TikTok is a pretty amazing platform.

    You can search for viral trends, videos, and hashtags based on keywords, sounds, and regions. Doing this will help you gauge what’s hot and what’s not in the TikTok landscape. It will also help you decide on a content and influencer strategy for your TikTok marketing campaigns.

    6.Balance Entertainment and Promotion

    Do you know your target audience well enough to know what interests them? What keeps them hooked? Avoid using language that oversells your product. Instead, focus on ‘showing rather than telling’ customers about your product. Take advantage of trending TikTok hashtags and memes, identify your niche, and create valuable, entertaining content users actually want to watch.

     7.Lead Generation

    TikTok’s lead generation tool makes building your lead lists so much easier and quicker. When users click on your ad’s CTA, an instant form provides key information about your brand. You can customize these forms to let your audience in on all your most valuable aspects and features as a business. These instant forms also allow users to leave their contact details. You can connect third-party tools like Zapier or custom APIs to feed your leads into your CRM system and convert them.

    8.Strong CTA

    Your TikTok ad could be super entertaining and trendy. But you can’t drive web traffic or convert users without a compelling CTA? The trick here isn’t to make your CTA salesy. I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again – TikTok users engage with and act on organic content. So, you want your CTA to directly tell users what to do after seeing your ad but in a way that highlights the benefit for them. For example, “Get These Tips for a Healthy Diet” or “Get Your Hair Growth Serum”, rather the more obvious “Buy Now” type CTAs.

    9.Custom Audiences

    Narrowing down on your target audience is always a brain teaser for results-driven ad campaigns. But TikTok makes this a whole lot easier!

    The custom audience tool helps you find users who already know or have engaged with your business. This advantage would save your marketing so much time as you don’t have to stress about extensive audience research and analysis.

    With the custom audiences tool, you have automated data to assign specific user segments to ad groups based on people who have already interacted with your brand on TikTok.

    tiktok-demographics
    Source: Hello Performance

    10.Integrations

    Did you know you can integrate your favorite tools with TikTok to boost your performance and workflows? You connect TikTok’s built-in functions, like the Custom Audiences tool, with software like Google Sheets and Salesforce. By integrating TikTok with third-party apps, it’s easier to track, manage, and export your data while collaborating with your team and influencers.

    Managing your content schedule will also be so much simpler. You can connect your automated content scheduling tool to post content on TikTok without manual effort.

    11.Be Authentic

    Your TikTok audience wants to see the real you. What makes you special? What makes your business stand out from its competitors? Users need to know you so they can trust you and your business. Be real and relatable, don’t over-polish your productions, and give your audience insights into who your brand is, what your values are and why developing a brand-to-consumer relationship matters to you and your audience.

    12.Consistently Track Your TikTok Campaigns

    With TikTok ad manager, you can keep track of your ad’s performance, the status of your ads groups and campaigns, and, of course, your ad spend. Checking your performance metrics and overall CTR, CPC, CPA, and CPM is a great way to manage your campaigns and guide your strategy adjustments for success. You can also create custom reports with TikTok report templates; you can download them or schedule delivery at a specific time convenient for you.

    Summary: 12 TikTok Ads Best Practices

    1. TikTok Ads Policy
    2. TikTok Ads Format
    3. Specs and Guidelines
    4. Influencers
    5. TikTok Creative Ads Center
    6. Balance Entertainment and Promotion
    7. TikTok Lead Generation
    8. Strong CTA
    9. TikTok Custom Audiences
    10. Integrations
    11. Be Authentic
    12. Consistently Track Your TikTok Campaigns

    7 TikTok Campaign Examples

    Here are some great examples of successful TikTok Campaigns:

    1.Kroger

    The grocery chain Kroger took advantage of branded hashtag challenges and created a hashtag, #TransformUrDorm, throughout the back-to-school shopping season. TikTok users had fun decorating their dorm rooms with Kroger products and posted videos of their finished spaces.

    tiktok advertising_kruger
    Source: Lindsey Gamble

    The Results

    • 3 million video views
    • 252k likes
    • 1747 shares
    • 1352 comments.

    2.eBay

    Yes, eBay uses TikTok, too! This example is fantastic because it uses such simple content. They created an in-feed promotional video and included a trending song, with just a one-line caption. This video aimed to promote the connection between sneakers, culture and music. Considering TikTok’s demographic is mainly young users, this campaign marketed products that fit audiences.

    Plus, eBay went the extra mile and used a branded hashtag challenge too: #LaceEmUp. Excited TikTokers posted videos of themselves busting their favorite moves in their favorite shoes!

    @ebay

    @jadenhossler nailed this transition 🙌 Think you can do a smoother #LaceEmUp challenge vid? #DanceChallenge

    ♬ Lace ‘Em Up – eBay feat. Mia

    Source: TikTok

    The Results

    • 1 billion video views
    • 773k video creations
    • 5.2% higher engagement

    3.Boss

    The fashion brand Boss launched a campaign in December 2020 that featured celebrities, influencers, and TikTok creators from around the world. Boss went further and released an original song for the campaign by LODEF ft. Fleur East (titled Boss) greatly increased the brand’s exposure. This campaign aimed to generate awareness about the fashion brand’s new Christmas collection.

    And of course, they included a hashtag challenge: #MerryBOSSmas, and branded effects!

    hugo boss_tiktok advertising example
    Source: FashionNetwork

    The Results

    • 2.9 billion video views
    • 873k video creations
    • 319 creators

    4.Acome

    Acome is an Indonesian smartphone accessories brand that was founded in 2019. As they focus on the younger customers who shop online, they decided to take advantage of TikTok’s in-feed ads and promote their mobile phone accessories. Acome used the TikTok ad manager to set up a custom audience for their campaign and collaborated with TikTok creators like @ivyfeb and @pingkyruslie. This very simple campaign generated significant results and very high engagement.

    Acome_tiktok advertising example
    Source: TikTok

    The Results

    • 480,000 clicks
    • 359,000 likes

    5.IHOP

    Who doesn’t love pancakes and TikTok? As part of it’s 2021 rebranding strategy, IHOP took to TikTok to create awareness about their new identity and what this means for their products. The pancake brand leveraged TikTok by collaborating with influencer, DJ @IsaacLikes_ and creating a series of organic in-feed ads. These ads highlighted IHOP’s transformation and the best features of their products!

    IHOP
    Source: TikTok

    The Results

    • 33 million users reached
    • 134,000 clicks
    • 2000 shares
    • 289,000 likes

    6.Guess

    Guess is a world-renowned fashion brand famous for its creative designs and iconic logo pieces. The brand wanted to promote its Fall’18 Denim Fit Collection, targeted at Gen Z and millennials. So, they launched the #InMyDenim challenge, where users showed off their Denim fashion style. Again, this brand identified their target audience and found how powerful TikTok would be because of who they’re targeting. 

    guess_tiktok advertising example
    Source: Drapers

    The Results

    • 10 million video views 
    • 12k new followers
    • 14.3% increased engagement

    7.Smyth Jewelers

    Since Smyth Jewelers has been in the jewelry game for over a century. You’d think their marketing campaigns would be archaic, but this brand pulled out their very best for the TikTok campaign done right. Using TikTok in-feed ads, Smyth Jewelers created a series of fun, personalized videos that featured “what your diamond shape says about you” for horoscope enthusiasts. 

    @smythjewelers

    What does your diamond shape say about you Pt 1 #Richtok #engagementring #diamond #diamondshape #tiktokjewelry #emeraldcut #oval #cushion

    ♬ Aesthetic – Xilo

    Source: TikTok

    The Results

    • 779k video views 
    • 2 cents per like

    Conclusion

    TikTok is a great way to reach thousands of Gen Z’ers. Users on this platform spend a lot of time on it and love the content with which they interact. This advantage makes it easier to connect and convert users. There are many ad formats you can use, and setting up a TikTok campaign is easy and takes only seven steps! Many brands like eBay, GUESS, and Hugo Boss have exhausted advertising and accelerated their engagement and exposure.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Is TikTok advertising worthwhile?

    If you're targeting Gen Z'ers and you have a generous lump sum to invest in TikTok ads, this platform will work for you. You should also have long-term marketing goals and consider the marketing regulations for your niche. Read this article for the best TikTok advertising campaign set up steps, examples and types of ads.

    What are the top TikTok advertising formats?

    The best ad formats for TikTok advertising include in-feed video ads, brand takeover ads, topview ads, collection ads and branded hashtag challenges. You can also use brand effects for TikTok advertising. Read this full article for an ultimate guide on how to advertise on TikTok.

    How do you build a TikTok advertising campaign?

    To create a TikTok advertising campaign start by creating a TikTok Business account, add a pixel, configure your ad campaign, set a budget, create an ad group, create your ad and monitor and track your campaign. This article outlines the top tips and strategies for TikTok advertising done right.

    References

    Wavve: TikTok Growth Statistics in Current Years

    Exploding Topics: TikTok User Age, Gender, & Demographics (2024)

    Sensor Tower: Nearly One-Third of TikTok’s Installed Base Uses the App Every Day

    AdAge: A Leaked Pitch Deck Reveals How TikTok is Trying to Woo Brands

    TikTok for Business: Growing your community with TikTok LIVE